Where can I find the best bang for my buck with ANZ Rewards points?

Answered Closed

0

0

I’m Australian, but I spend most of the year overseas in different places. I have a QANTAS Frequent Flyer account with about 13000 points.

I have 63,000 ANZ Rewards points. I want to know how I can get the best bang for my buck. I am rarely in Australia so I think gift cards for Woolworths etc are not useful for me. I don’t have a Velocity Rewards account but I can get 1 point for every 2 ANZ Rewards points that I have.

My problem is that most of my flights will be overseas, such as within Europe or between South East Asia and Europe. I never fly domestically in Australia, so I would need points that can be used on European airlines or something.

The other option could be selling the points. Or redeeming something with the points that I can sell online without having to be in Australia. Is it possible?

Before I answer you anything, I need to let you know the selling of miles or points without the approval of the airline is against their T&C and you may risk award ticket being cancelled and account closed and all points confiscated. So it is not recommended. If you want to do it, do it at your own risk.

I can’t speak for everyone, but many of us in PH community would agree that the best bang for buck for any credit card or frequent flyer points is to use it to fly first or business class, and gift cards or toasters tend to be the worst value.

In your case, your ANZ reward point is not useless and converting it to VA is probably the best value. You can still use it for your need.

For intra Europe flight, VA partners with Air Berlin so you can use it to redeem it, although personally I find for intra Europe flights, as business class is basically economy class with middle seat blocked, so I don’t find it good value.

For traveling to SE Asia, the best use of VA points is to fly with Etihad business or even first class. Their availability is usually pretty good. Or you can transfer it to Kris Flyer points, and fly back from AMS to SIN (and other SE asian cities) in their new business seat on A350 for 51000 KF miles (~68850 VA points = 137700 ANZ points)

But at 63000 ANZ reward (= 31500 VA points) it is not enough to get any decent redemption. Are you still earning points on ANZ card? Or do you have any other ways to earn more VA points? As ANZ reward points don’t expire as long as you have your account open, there is no rush to use it up. Wait for the next 15% bonus, and continue to earn more VA points.

With your 13000 QF points, unfortunately I have to be honest with you, it is rather useless. it might get you a one way economy between London and Paris, but the fuel surcharge makes it not worth while. So keep it. But if it is about to expire, maybe gift it to your families (or still get a Y ticket intra Europe, better than nothing).

The ANZ is still active but I want to cancel it. So what is my best option? I will not continue earning points on the ANZ. I need to transfer the points out ASAP so I can close it.

If I convert the ANZ points to KrisFlyer or Virgin Australia will they be useful to get from SE Asia to Eastern Europe? Even if the points get me to Dubai and I pay for a ticket from Dubai to Kiev or somewhere using my own funds, that would probably be a saving.

I can fly to Europe from Bangkok on Norwegian Air economy fairly cheaply. Could I use the QANTAS points to fly from Oslo to Poland or Ukraine?

At the moment I am flying in SE Asia using Air Asia and will need to get back from Vietnam to Bangkok/Kuala Lumpur/Singapore for a flight to Europe in March.

Do you have any other ways of earning KF points? Eg. Do you have an Amex card in your current country that allows you to convert more credit card points to KF points?

The best bang for buck is convert your ANZ to VA and then to KF (better than directly to KF). That would give you 23333 KF. KF allows you to top up but you need at least 50% of the miles needed for redemption, which you are just slightly short of 50% the 51000 miles needed to fly from AMS or CPH to SE Asia in J. If you can somehow get the extra miles it would make it a good redemption.

It probably will be enough to get you in economy one way from SE Asia and DXB. But the fuel surcharge and the cost of buying all those other tickets makes it not worthwhile. (Sometimes one way ticket is more expensive then a discounted return!)

You do have enough to fly one way within SE Asia. SGN to SIN in SQ J is 17000 one way. So if you have no other way to top up KF and want to maximize your points:
63000 ANZ -> 31500 VA
Then out of the 31500 VA, transfer 23000 to KF -> 17037 KF. Enough for SGN-SIN in SQ J.

You are then left with 8500 VA which might be possible for a short hop intra Europe. But you need to find one that is operated by Air Berlin that doesn’t involve transiting. (As VA is distance based award, any transits adds the distance travelled and therefore more expensive)

With your Qantas points, you need to check on their classic award. Sounds like you are based in Kiev and I’m not sure what sort of routing it will take you (or if even available with OW carriers) and 15000 can’t really do much. Qantas is also distance based so unless it’s direct flight, any transiting will add the distance, and Kiev and Oslo are both not one world hub. I suspect the most direct would be Finnair Oslo to Helsinki to Kiev. (Not even sure of Finnair flies to Kiev)

Great info, thanks! I am going to transfer from ANZ to VA now, then KF.

I am actually not based in Kiev, it is just my end destination in March or April. I am trying to get from SE Asia (probably Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City) to Warsaw or Bucharest to apply for a Ukrainian visa.

I use my 28 Degrees card mostly as it does not have any foreign currency transaction fee and gives me a good FX rate. Also, it has no annual fee.

I wish there was a card which didn’t have a FX fee, has a good FX rate and also a reward program.